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Putrid In Pittsburgh: Sloppy Devils Embarrassed By Pens. Columbus next |
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Putrid In Pittsburgh: Sloppy Devils Embarrassed By Pens. Columbus next
Sorry this comes a little late guys. I’ve been busy slamming my head into a block wall for the past 36 hours, in a desperate attempt to spur some short term memory less, and completely forget Saturday’s game. Unfortunately, as I sit here bleeding from the ears, I remember every second of it.
It was an ugly, hideous, grotesque, repulsive, unsightly, dreadful, horrible, ghastly, loathsome, abominable, revolting, terrible, awful, dreadful, catastrophic, disastrous, vile, and just outright rotten effort by New Jersey on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh. A squandered two points ends the Devils bid for their first four game win streak in over two years and adds more pressure to Mondays tilt in Columbus.
While there were some positives, this is not the time of the year for moral victories. Much like the clubs in my golf bag, the Devils can’t seem to get everyone consistently preforming at the same time. With a broken driver (Jack Hughes), the Devils will need certainty in their short game to lock down wins as the season winds down. Jacob Markstrom, our once reliable Scotty Cameron putter, has had far too many lip outs since his return. Just as you cannot let one triple bogey ruin your round, Sheldon Keefe’s crew must try to forget this one and move on. Hopefully they try different methods than I.
PS: Please excuse any typos and grammatical errors as my vision is still blurry. Wall 1, Chris 0, and that’s a final score.
Mail Bag:
Samuel_popailo wrote:
“So nice when we actually have representation and it's as good as Chris is. Thanks again. Gotta ask you though...do we have a Jack Hughes problem? I mean, clogging the net front and playing 'working man's' hockey, they should be able to do that AS WELL AS account for Jack's ability to break out. But, as we saw since Xmas break, this team spends too much time waiting for Jack to work and not working themselves. What do you think?”
Chris: Great observation! Since late December, this team was stuck in neutral with many players seemingly sitting back and waiting for Jack. While the Stanley Cup aspirations were fading with Hughes in the lineup, the team/management seemed content on sticking to its plan of attack. Now, with the absence of 86, the Devils were forced to pivot. Although it’s been a very small sample size to date, the simplistic attack implemented by Coach Keefe and his staff has been very effective. Getting pucks behind the defenders, traffic in front of the net and challenging opposing goaltenders by shooting instead of looking for the perfect play, are exactly what this team needs to do. Only a hand full(or less) of players on any given team that can play a style with the speed and creativity of a Jack Hughes, so let’s not ask that of the entire team. It would be much easier for Jack to adapt to the level of an Erik Haula, than Haula adapt to Jack. Jack Hughes will come back bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled than ever next year, and with this learning experience, management will as well.
Can this Jack Hughes injury be a blessing in disguise for this Devils team for years to come? I believe so. These last 20 or so game plus playoffs are Hughes-less, but by no means are they useless…
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